Justin Hughes
JUSTIN HUGHES – Expert on Building High-Performance Cultures Speaker
Justin Hughes is a former RAF fighter pilot and Red Arrows Pilot, and an authoritative speaker on teamwork and achieving high performance
Justin is the CEO of biotech/climate startup NetZeroNitrogen. Combining that with turnaround experience as a senior corporate executive, and as a former fighter pilot and Executive Officer of the Red Arrows, Justin has ‘skin in the game’ when it comes to building high-performance cultures.
He is a renowned speaker on a range of related topics including leadership, building high-performance teams (inc virtual), decision-making under ambiguity, and performance in high-risk environments. Delivery options include keynotes, facilitation and workshops and he has extensive experience with diverse audiences in the US, Europe, the Middle and Far East, and China.
Justin Hughes brings an unusual combination of a highly engaging delivery style and clear, actionable insights based on first-hand knowledge of the most demanding operating environments. His passion for high performance evolved from his military experience, flying in over 250 displays worldwide on the Red Arrows. Justin’s BETTUR (Better Understanding of Reality) model is based on personal learning of how you plan, execute and adapt in situations characterised by ambiguity, imperfect information, speed of change and pressure to deliver.
Since leaving the RAF, Justin has worked as a strategic adviser on organizational effectiveness to clients including Microsoft, the United Nations and Mercedes Formula 1, and he is a regular contributor to BP’s global Leading in Operations programme. He is the author of The Business of Excellence (Bloomsbury, 2016), has been profiled in the London Standard, Director Magazine, the Daily Telegraph and the Independent, and interviewed for BBC World ‘Talking Business’, BBC Breakfast and GB News.
As a result of some intellectual mid-life crisis, Justin Hughes has an MBA from London Business School and an MSt in International Relations from the University of Cambridge (both Distinctions). For the latter, he planned a thesis on pandemics but thought nobody would be interested (in 2017!), and instead analysed the threat posed by cryptocurrency to the financial order; he is currently sitting on a return of 1000%; unfortunately he only bought $30.
JUSTIN HUGHES SPEAKING TOPICS
Justin Hughes is a renowned speaker on high performance, operational excellence, leadership, decision-making and risk and behavioural safety and safety culture.
High Performance Cultures/Teams
Highly engaging introduction to the key drivers of high-performance cultures based on 20y+ entrepreneurial and corporate experience, preceded by 12y as a fighter pilot and Executive Officer of the Red Arrows (250 displays).
Take-aways:
- Hire on attitude AND skill, but if you had to choose…
- Communicate not just what, but why
- Know what ball you can’t afford to drop
- Build an environment where people have the REAL conversations
Leadership
At its heart, leadership is about exhibiting a set of behaviours such that others choose to follow you of their own free will. If they follow for a different reason, it’s probably seniority (ie they have to – that’s not leadership). It’s bringing people on the journey with you and is distinct from working out the journey and the ability to execute.
Takeaways
- Leadership is primarily a moral and emotional activity
- Managers are inevitably placed in the middle of wanting to be good people leaders but getting measured solely on task delivery
- You will be judged on what you stand for in difficult situations
In The Business of Excellence, Justin Hughes articulates a clear strategy for the pursuit of excellence coming from his many years of experience as a fighter pilot and entrepreneur. I am a big fan of learning from other environments and highly recommend it.
— Paddy Lowe, Executive Director, Mercedes Grand Prix
A superb first-class delivery with captivating real-life experiences around leadership behaviours and accelerated learning through high impact de-brief sessions all underpinned with attitude over skill. Insights, learnings and business models in abundance notwithstanding a real pleasure to work with.
— Mark Bradley, Managing Director, Plumbase
Justin wowed our audience at the World Class Leadership 2018 Conference. His blend of insight and humour was both entertaining and captivating. He provided a powerful and unique view into world-class teamwork and leadership. I very much look forward to working with him again.
— Simon Hartley, Organiser World Class Leadership Conference
…nothing short of excellent demonstrating a wealth of operational experience, knowledge and the ability to relate that to our environment. All expectations were exceeded.
— London Luton Airport
Feedback was massively positive and some of the best we’ve had
— Fujitsu Services (EMEIA)
Justin is one of a rare breed of speakers who absolutely engages and captivates an audience, providing clear takeaways to action straight away into positive business results
— Harrington Starr
Justin Hughes was guest speaker at the Annual Gala Dinner of the Northern Ireland Aerospace Consortium. In a wide-ranging and informative presentation laced with humorous anecdotes, Justin impressed the audience. The superb aerial displays are truly fine examples of teamwork at its best. In the short time available to him, Justin conveyed brilliantly the sense of camaraderie, dedication and commitment that are requisite attributes for success in his chosen profession.
— Paul Madden, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Aerospace Consortium
The keynote worked extremely well; you had done your homework and researched our business. The presentation was memorable and will motivate the group as a whole. I look forward to working with you closely in the future on UK or other opportunities as they arise. I will recommend Justin Hughes to other businesses and friends and colleagues both within and outside of optics.
— Nick Loan, Managing Director, Bausch & Lomb (UK
Feedback was very positive. Front line team managers found the presentation to be interesting, enlightening and particularly relevant to the skills and behavior expected of leaders in business today. Justin had done his homework on our organisation and was able to translate very effectively in what ways our managers could apply the concepts being presented.
— Lisa Butterball, HR Manager, De Veer Group
